


Time Heals Nothing

by Lady_Mousy



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adult Adrien Agreste, Adult Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Angst, Dirty Jokes, F/M, Female Friendship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Future AU, Identity Reveal, Male-Female Friendship, Multi, Tragedy, Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-05-29 04:57:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15065630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Mousy/pseuds/Lady_Mousy
Summary: “They say that time heals all things, they say you can always forget; but the smiles and the tears across the years they twist my heart strings yet!”George OrwellAdrien has been away from Paris for years, Marinette is not in spots anymore. That's all about to change.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First of all let me apologize in advance for any grammar or spelling errors, since English is not my first language.  
> Part of the reason I'm writing this fic is to practice and develop my english writing skills, since I'm not in school anymore and don't use it as often.
> 
> Also, I studied British English and then was introduced to American English by the world, so my spelling sometimes tends to be a mixed mess of both, just ignore that
> 
> I really enjoyed writing this and I hope you like it ^^

  
  
“No! Chat Noir, don’t do it, please!”

“M’lady… I’m sorry…”

“Nooooooo!”  
  
_________  


“No!”

Marinette woke up suddenly, drenched in sweat and trembling. She took a deep breath as her eyes drifted across the room, realizing she had been dreaming.

Dammit! It had been so long since she had had that particular nightmare that she almost thought she was done with it for good. Apparently not.

Running her fingers through her hair, she took a look outside her window and noticed that the sun was already coming up. Guess there was no point in trying to sleep again.

Still a bit shaken by her vivid dream, Marinette kicked the sheets and got out of bed, making her way to her balcony trapdoor barefoot. As she opened it and stepped outside, she could feel the cool morning breeze caress her face and it made her feel a little better.  
  
 The city was still silent, or at least as silent as a city like Paris could be, so she closed her eyes and tried to calm her breathing, while taking in the sound of birds chirping nearby.  
  
Her thoughts wanderend back to that terrible dream. Why was it back?

Eight years had passed since that dreadful night, she should probably be over it by now, but somehow the images always found a way back into her dreams when she was stressed out, and the last couple of weeks had definitly been rough for Marinette.

“Maybe I should discuss this with Alya…” she said mumbling to herself

She was supposed to meet her best friend Alya for breakfast in a few hours, perhaps she would bring it up then. Alya always knew what to say, she always made things better.

Leaning on the balcony, she stayed there, lost in her own thoughts, until she started to feel the heat of the first rays of sunshine in her skin.

“I should probably go get ready” she said to no one

As the city was coming to life on that Saturday morning, Marinette headed back inside her room and went for a shower.

  
  
_____________  
  
  
Marinette was sitting at small table in the corner of the coffeshop where she and Alya had agreed to meet.

Her friend was already thirty minutes late, so Marinette just sat there, pretending to be interested in her phone. Just as she was texting Alya “ _Where are you?!”_ for the second time, she spotted her friend’s reddish-brown hair near the coffe shop’s door.

  
“Alya! Over here!” Marinette called as she waved her right hand in the air.

As soon as Alya saw her friend she smiled and raced through the room in her direction, letting herself fall heavily on the chair in front of her.

“Uff! I’m so sorry Marinette, really! I’ve had a crazy morning!” Alya started ranting

“We were supposed to have a couch delivered this afternoon, but then the guys from the store called and said that they could only do it this morning! And Nino isn’t coming back until tomorrow, so I had to take care of everything by myself and… I’m really sorry Marinette, I was gonna text you but everything just happened so fast!”

  
“It’s ok, Alya! It’s fine, don’t worry” Marinette rushed to say before her friend started apologizing again.

“How’s everything going with the apartment?”  she continued.

“Oh! It’s almost done, you will love it! The kitchen is ready, our matress is coming on Monday and then there’s just some living room furniture missing. Maybe we should trow an inauguration party next week if everything’s ready by then. Also don’t forget that you promised to come with me next Wednesday afternoon to buy some drapes! I am counting on your good taste! If I left it to Nino we would have lightsabers for bedside lamps…”

  
“Ahahaha, relax Alya, I said I’d go with you, so I’ll go with you.” Marinette laughed

Marinette could hardly believe that her best friend was finally moving in together with her longtime boyfriend. Both of them had supported her so much in the last few years that she was truly glad to see them happy and moving forward.

“Thanks you! So much!” Alya said smiling, and then proceeded to reach for Marinette’s hand and adopt a more serious tone.

“How about you? How have you been doing?”

“I…”

Marinette was interrupted by the waiter wanting to take their order. Alya was quick to respond.

“Two croissant au chocolat, an orange juice and a strawbery milkshake, si vous plait.”

Her best friend rarely had to ask Marinette what she wanted, she just knew. After the waiter left they continued their conversation.

“I guess I’ve been holding on, I’m not great, but I’m fine”

“Do you miss Luka? Do you think’s there’s still a chance for you two or was the break up final?”

“I don’t, we’re not getting back together, Alya. I think that’s the worst part, you know? That I don’t really miss him. I mean, he’s such a sweet guy, I really liked him, we had great times together, I thought I loved him… but I guess I didn’t.”

Marinette had started dating Luka, a little more than a year ago. They had reconected at one of Juleka and Rose’s house parties and just kind of hit it off from there.

But when he had asked her, a few weeks ago, to move in with him, she had panicked. She wasn’t ready, something just didn’t feel right. The tought of living with her boyfriend, of spending everyday with him, maybe even get married some day, it should have excited her. But somehow, it didn’t. She ended up breaking up with him a few days later, much to everyone’s surprise, including herself.

“I don’t know Alya, I really wanted to be happy with him, I really did. And I’m so sad that I hurt him, he didn’t deserve it. It was just that… He was just not…”

“Just not Adrien?” Alya interrupted

“Alya! Don’t say that, it’s nothing like that, that was years ago!”

Was it though? For some reason her vivid nightmare about that night from so long ago had came back. Was she still hung up on Adrien, her highschool crush?

“I mean, it’s simply a fact that I’ve never seen you even look at someone the way you used to look at him…” her friend continued.

The truth was that, if she were to be honest with herself, there were only ever two guys she truly missed in her heart when they weren’t arround for too long: Adrien and Chat Noir. Sadly, she was almost certain that she would never see Adrien again, and she was absolutely determined that she never wanted to see Chat again in her life.

She decided to bring it up

“Last night I had that dream again, about that night at the Louvre…”

Alya was the only one that knew everything, she knew about her secret identity, she knew about everything that happened that night, and she knew all the reasons why Marinette had quit being Ladybug after that. She had promised to keep protecting Paris as Rena Rouge so Marinette wouldn’t have to be Ladybug again until she was ready. And she was just never ready again.

“I still partially blame myself for what happened, I always will, so I will always feel that I hurt Adrien, but do you think it’s possible that I also still hold some hope deep inside that me and him could get together somehow? I know what you’re gonna say, I know it’s crazy and I should just forget it. I know he’s in America and is never coming back”

“Actually…” Alya said with a devilish smile

“What?”

“Well, I called Nino this morning about our change of plans with the couch, and he gave me very interesting news… Aparently Adrien called him yesterday, he said he was coming back to Paris to take care of some things and he wanted Nino to pick him up from the airport so they could catch up. Unfortunatly Nino, is down in Lyon until tomorrow… and Adrien is flying in today.”

Marinette’s heart skipped a heartbeat

“Adrien… What?!”

“Yeah! So maybe it is a good time for you to be single! Maybe we should invite him for our appartment inauguration party next week. What do you say, Marinette?”

“I… I…”

Marinette just sat there unable to speak. She didn’t even notice the waiter bringing their food to the table. The day she tought would never come had arrived at last.

Adrien Agreste was coming back to Paris.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and the rest of her class are arround 24 years old in this fic, they were already a bit older than they are in canon when stuff went down and Adrien left Paris (arround 16)
> 
> I plan for this to be a multi-chapter fic with at least 10 chapters planned, probably more.
> 
> I will try to post at least a chapter every week but I shall make no promises. Some weeks you might get 3, others you might get none.  
> I (try to) have a life afterall.
> 
> The next chapter at least, will come until the end of this week


	2. Chapter 2

As Adrien stroled out of the airplane with his carry-on by his side, he couldn’t help but stroke the back of his neck with his left hand. Despite flying in first class, the 8 hours he had spent on the plane, from New York to Paris, had left him a bit sore.

Paris. It felt so strange to finally be back.

He had left this city behind him 8 years ago, when he went to live in the USA with his aunt Camille, and for a very long time he couldn’t even bear the thought of coming back.  
  
Even now, those first few days after the incident with his father were still fuzzy in his memory. He didn’t remeber coming back home, or even eating back in that time. Only after his aunt Camille reached out to him, once she heard the news, had his life begun to make some sense again.

Camille Beaufort wasn’t really his aunt, she was his mother’s cousin and closest childhood friend. She often told Adrien about how inseparable she and Emilie were as little girls, growing up together in the French countryside.

They grew apart after Camille left to study medicine in the States many years ago, and eventually married an American and settled there. But once she heard what had happened she had gotten in contact with Adrien and quite frankly saved his life.

It didn’t matter how exactly she was related to him, she was his only family left.

He was walking through the arrivals zone, distracted by his own toughts, when he spotted a head of shinning blonde curls ahead.

In front of him was an elegant woman, in clearly expensive clothing, waving at him franctically. She wore the biggest smile in her face, and Adrien couldn’t help but gently smile as well when she threw her arms arround his neck and hugged him.

“Adrikins!! Oh! I missed you so much!”

“It’s good to see you, Chloé” he said, resting one hand on her back and regaining his balance.

Chloé let go of his neck and took a step back, taking a look at him while covering her excited smile with her hands.

“Oh my god! You’re so tall! And your hair!”

“Is it hideous?” Adrien chuckled, as he ran his fingers through his blonde mane, that now reached about the lenght of his chin.

“Not at all! It looks really good, like, how dare you come back after all this time looking even hotter than you used to?”

Adrien didn’t really have time to respond, as she continued rambling in that bossy tone which reminded Adrien of their times in school.

“Really, it’s such a shame that you stopped modelling! What a waste of talent and good looks. I actually have this photoshoot coming ahead, you should join me and…”

“Chloé Bourgeois, are you making me a job offer, when I haven’t even been back in Paris for more than 5 minutes?” Adrien interruped, trying not to laugh.

She crossed her harms in front of her and responded with a snarky tone.

“Well, it’s not my fault if you choose to throw away your modelling carreer despite being clearly destined for it. Besides, seems like you could use the money, since you had to call me to pick you up from the airport, instead of just hiring a _chauffeur_ …”

Sometimes Chloé had no filter. It seemed that some things stayed the same.

“Well, I’m certainly not as rich as I used to be, but actually this time, I just really wanted a friend to be here…”

Chloé held her hands against her chest and smiled at him, as if she was getting emotional.

“Come on, Adrikins! People are starting to look at us, I’ll show you to my car!”

She grabbed his arm and the two friends walked together to the exit.

 

_____________

 

Speeding through the highway, with Chloé behind the wheel of her brand new white Mercedes Benz, Adrien found himself actually enjoying the company of his childhood friend more than he thought he would. He even felt a little guilty that he had only called Chloé after Nino told him he couldn’t make it.

He couldn’t really tell what it was but there was definitly somethig different about her. She was still the same loud, clearly spoiled, drama queen he had always known, but now she looked more confident instead of just conceited, as if somewhere along the way she had realized that she didn’t need to put others down to lift herself up.

He liked this change.

“So, I heard you just got engaged! How did this happen?” he asked his friend in the driver’s seat

“Oh my god! Yes! You have to come to the wedding next July! It wil be the biggest event of the Summer in Paris. The biggest in France, if I dare to say it!”

“Ahahah, I can imagine… but wasn’t it all a bit sudden? You’ve been together for what? A few months?”

“Jacques and I are soulmates” Chloé said with a kind of victorious smile “I’ve known it since we first met, on the set of my last movie. There’s no need to waste time, we’re the best, most romantic, drop dead gorgeus couple in this country.”

She lowered her sunglasses a little to wink at him.

“I bet you’re sorry you wasted your chance to be with me” she added playfully

Adrien touched his hair, a bit embarrassed.

“Well, if I’m being honest I guess I always tought you would end up dating Sabrina. I mean, she was always at your heels, attending to your every wish… I was pretty sure she was in love with you!”

No response. Behind her designer sunglasses, Adrien could see Chloé blush.

“What?” he asked, not quite getting it.

“Urgh! We did date in university, ok? Me and Sabrina. For a year or so.”

“Wait, for real?”

“Yes, for real! I ended up having to break up with her, tough. As good as she had been as a sort of servant, she wasn’t a very good girlfriend. You wouldn’t imagine it by looking at her, but that girl could get craaazy jealous, almost pscychotic even! I couldn’t have that.”

“Wow!”

“Yes, well, in her defense, you were right, she did _attend to my every wish_ …” Chloé said, with a mischievous smile in her lips.

This time it was Adrien’s time to blush. His face lit up like a tomato.

“That’s… oh my god, Chloé, why? That’s way too much information!”

As he pretended to cover his ears, she laughed out loud, before adopting a more serious expression.

“But you would have know all of this if you had actually visited me anytime during all these years…”

“Chloé…”

“If you had actually flown in for my eighteenth birthday like I begged you to, or for any birthday after that… If you had responded to my emails more than twice a year or invited me to visit you. You know I would have been in New York in less than two days, had you asked!”

“I’m sorry…” and he really was

“Why are you back right now, Adrien?”

He couldn’t tell her.

For as much as they they had been friend since childhood, he still couldn’t tell her about his weird dreams and visions, the images that had plagued his sleep for the past few months and dragged him back to Paris in search for answers. He also couldn’t tell her the whole reason why he left and had avoided returning for so long. He definitely couldn’t tell her what happened, but maybe he could try to tell her how it felt.

“It hurt too much…”

“Hmm?”

“Being in Paris, going to school, staying at my home… it all hurt too much after I lost him.”

He could feel the hole in his chest start to open.

“Even talking to you, talking to my friends, only reminded me of… everything I had lost”

Chloé bit her lower lip, he could tell that she had gotten way more emotional than she apparently had intended to.

“And now?” she asked “What changed now?”

He had to make something up.

“What do people usually say? _Time Heals_? I guess… enough time has passed? I have some burocracy I have to take care of here in Paris, taxes and stuff, and I have been putting it off for too long. My aunt was driving me crazy about it, and I felt strong enough now, so I came.”

He wasn’t sure if she had bought it, but in that moment he noticed they were pulling over in front of the Agreste mannor.

He lost his words and just stared, his right hand in the car door handle, trembling. He hadn’t realized they were already so close to his old home, he hadn’t been ready.

“Are you okay?” Chloé asked. Adrien didn’t respond.

She grabbed his left hand and held it firmly, even though his palm was starting to get sweaty.

“Hey, it’s okay Adrien, I’m here for you. I didn’t mean to upset you, I was being selfish like usual, I know you went through a lot…”

“No, I… you… urgh…” he wanted to tell her that it wasn’t her fault, that she had been right in what she had said, but he could’t seem to find the words for it.

“Look, let’s have a break, let’s go for lunch at a fancy restaurant and we’ll come back here later when you’re ready. And if you’re not ready to go in today we can come back tomorrow, I’ll be with you.”

He finally looked away from the mannor and stared at her.

“And well, if you’re still not ready to go in by Monday I guess I’ll have to hire someone to babysitt you in my place, because unlike you, I actually have a carreer.”

He let out a little chucke.

“Thanks. Let’s… let’s do that”

Adrien had waited for years to enter his home again, he could wait a few more hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yey! A new chapter! I am actually quite impressed with myself for how things are coming together, since it's my first time writing a rather long story.  
> I have the whole thing generaly planned out and I'm enjoying adding the details as I go.
> 
> And let me just say that I was quite surprised that people actually bothered to read my 1st chapter and left positive feedback, like wow! What have I done to deserve this?
> 
> Next chapter probably won't come before next week. I want to include Queen Bee in the story soon and since her episodes are schedueled to air on the weekend I might as well get her origins and powers right
> 
> The Adrien-Marinette reunion is aproaching, stay tuned ^^


	3. Chapter 3

   
  
  
“A little more to the right…”

“Like this?” Marinette asked, balancing herself on top of a ladder while holding a rather large painting against the wall.

“Just a bit to the left…” her friend responded, closing one eye and framing the painting with her hands, as if to check if it was crooked

“Is it okay now?”

“Hmmm… maybe if...”

“Alya!! I’m gonna drop it if you don’t hurry!”

“Ok, ok! It’s fine, just hold it right there so I can mark the spot, ok?”

Alya dragged a chair to Marinette’s side and almost jumped onto it, making her best friend gasp, then quickly drew an “x” on the newly painted wall, right where the nail had to go. Afterwards, she jumped back to the floor and helped Marinette get down from the ladder without droping the painting.

“Thanks!”

“Was that the last one?” Marinette asked, taking a deep breath with her hands on her hips.

“Yep, I think so! Now we only need to drill the holes, and hammer the nails in and…”

“Alya!” Marinette interrupted “I thought you invited me here so we could both lay on your new couch and watch that new movie we talked about the other day, while stuffing our faces with popcorn…”

Alya let out her best evil laugh.

“Muahahah, you fell for my trap, my dear princess Marinette. You should have known better.”

Marinette sighed, rolling her eyes at her friend.

“Really? You want ME to help you with a drill and a hammer? Did you save time in your scheduelle to take me to the ER? Because I’m certain this won’t go very well….”

“Fiiiine, fine” Alya finally said, giving up “My laptop is there on the dinner table. Start setting up the TV and all, I’ll go make some popcorn.”

As her friend headed to the kitchen, Marinette grabed the laptop and started connecting it to the living room’s TV, getting everything ready for their lazy Sunday plan.

“What folder is the movie in?” she loudly asked her friend in the other room as she turned the computer on and browsed through the downloads.

“Are you snooping through my stuff?!” she heard her answer from the kitchen.

“What? Afraid I’ll find your sex tape?” she joked.

Alya showed up again, a bottle of soda in her left hand and a huge bowl in her right, as the sweet scent of popcorn filled the living room.

“Marinette, you really shouln’t ask questions you don’t want to have answered…” her friend joked back.

“Ew! Alya, you’re the worst!” she replied, taking the bowl from her friend’s hands and grabbing a handfull of popcorn.

“Or I’m the best, you’ll never really know since you’ll never find the tape…”

Among laughter and some popcorn throwing, the two friends finally settled, laying on the couch to watch the movie they had agreed on.

As the story went by on the screen, Alya appeared to be restless, constantly changing her position, and more than once Marinette caught her starring at her and then looking away as she looked back. Something was on her mind, and Marinette suspected she was about to find out.

As soon as the ending credits started rolling, she heard Alya clear her throat. Here it was.

“Er, Marinette… There’s actually something else I’ve wanted to talk to you about…”

Se turned to her friend, suspicious about what was coming but also curious to hear what was plaguing her mind.

“It’s about hero stuff…”

“Great! It’s a double trap! You actually tricked me _twice_ when you invited me here for a movie…” she replied, crossing her arms in front of her, wearing a slightly annoyed expression.

“Oh, don’t be like that! You would have tried to avoid it…”

“Yes, I would! What did I tell you last time? Don’t come to me with super hero business unless you are dieing.”

“Yeah, well, I’m figuratively dieing trying to figure out what is going on, is that not good enough?”

Marinette let herself fall back against the couch, rolling her eyes and realizing there was no point in arguing with her best friend.

“What is it then?” she said at last.

Alya smiled, happy that she got what she wanted, and continued.

“It’s all these heists in the past couple of months. You’ve heard about them on TV, right? This series of mysterious robberys all around Paris with no apparent culprit to be traced, either by the police or by us.”

“And you think there may be magic involved?”

“Don’t you? The culprit doesn’t leave any clues behind, no DNA, no fingerprints, security cameras are always turned off beforehand but with no signs of being hacked. The people at the crime scenes never seem to remember what really happened, they’re always confused or suffer from short term memory loss…”

“And have you talked this through with Nino and Bee? Or asked Trixx or Wayzz?”

“I have. Nino says that if I suspect so, then maybe I’m right, that I have ‘better eyes’ for this kind of things. I don’t think he’s really convinced but he has been helping me investigate. Bee, well, she thinks that…errr…”

“What?”

“Well, Bee thinks that it may have something to do with Chat Noir, that maybe it’s his doing…”

All the blood left Marinette’s face, leaving her looking as pale as the freshly painted walls.

“What?! Why? He has not show his face in Paris since… he has not been around for years! Or has he? Have any of you seen him lately? Has Bee seen him?”

“No! None of us saw him or any trace of him, it’s just Bee being Bee. Why would he come back after all this time? Not to mention start robbing…”

“Who knows… What did the kwamis say then?”

“Wayzz’s memories are still very fuzzy, we hopped it would get better with time, but it never did. The whole thing with Fu left him really damaged and since he got a new holder so soon he didn’t recover properly. He should have spent at least a few decades in the box to be as good as new, but you know we couldn’t afford it back then…”

“It wasn’t your fault Alya…” Marinette said, reaching to hold her friend’s hand.

“I know, I know… But anyway, Wayzz wasn’t much help, and Trixx doesn’t really know a lot either. He agrees that there might be magic involved, but he has no idea what kind or who may be using it. He’s been browsing through Fu’s books with me, but we haven’t made much progress…”

“Where’s Trixx anyway?” She looked around the room, looking for the little fox kwami.

“He’s asleep in my room. He thinks he makes you sad when he’s around.” her friend said, smiling sadly.

“Oh… he doesn’t. I’m fine really, he can be around when we hang out if he wants to…”

But she wasn’t saying the truth. Having her friend’s kwami around did leave Marinette with a sense of loss, of longing for a simpler time when everything was simpler, and apparently Trixx had picked it up. She cleared her throat and changed subjects.

“So, how do you think I can help you? I don’t really know any more than Trixx and Wayzz. I did know Fu for the longest time out of the four of us back then, but he never really trained me like he trained you.”

“He barely trained me! And Fu himself never completed his own training in his time, I’ve been working with very little knowledge all this time, it’s mostly improvising!” Alya complained.

“And what do you want me to do? It’s not like I can bring Fu and the entire Order of the Guardians back from the dead, can I?” Marinette shot back, starting to get a little annoyed.

“Well… you could, you know… awake Tikki and ask her.” she said, looking away from her friend, has if anticipating her response.

“Alya! We’ve talked about this! No!”

“But…”

She barely had time to argue before Marine cut her off.

“It’s not fair Alya! We agreed to his last time, we can’t keep awakening her only to put her away right after, it affects her, she has feelings.”

“Or you could, like, not put her back this time?”

This time it was Marinette’s time to look away and sit back, hugging herself as if she was in pain

“I’m… I’m not ready Alya, not yet.”

“C’mon Mari, it’s been 8 years! Do you think you’ll ever be ready again?”

“I…” Marinette tried to answer, but the words just didn’t come out.

“Back then, you were the one who asked to keep Tikki with you, despite not wanting to be Ladybug anymore. And I let you, because you’re my best friend, and you were our fearless leader, the great, wise, Ladybug. And honestly, I let you keep her because I figured that sooner or later you’d be back in spots, right by our side. But you’re not and you still don’t want to be. Maybe it’s time you gave Tikki back, so I can put her in the miraculous box. At least that way she would be able to communicate with the other kwamis to some extent, and some day choose a new Ladybug.”

Alya’s words hit Marinette like a punch in the stomach. Give Tikki back? Give up on her kwami for good this time? She hadn’t thought about it, she didn’t feel ready. But maybe she should be, maybe Alya was right.

Their conversation was interrupted by a sudden noise from the door. A loud thump and a clatter of keys.

“Looks like Nino’s home, we’ll talk about this later.” and like that, Alya ended the conversation.

Although Alya knew about Marinette’s secret identity as Ladybug all those years ago, she had made a promise to not tell anyone about it. And she had kept that promise, even when she chose her boyfriend Nino to take the turtle miraculous, she never revealed Ladybug’s identity to him. So Alya and Marinette both knew Nino was Carapace, and Nino knew his girlfriend was Rena Rouge, but he had no idea that Ladybug had been his friend Marinette all along.

“Hey! How are my two favorite girls? Missed me?” the man said smiling, as he entered the apartment and saw the two women sitting together on the couch.

Nino almost always looked happy, and he had a talent to spread his positive energy, which really helped dissipate the tension that had been created just now. He put down the big case that Marinette knew contained a lot of his DJ gear and opened his arms.

“So, do I get a hug?” he asked grinning at Alya.

His girlfriend jumped from the couch and crossed the distance to the front door, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him. Nino wraped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer, as she slid her finger through the shortest part of his undercut, finding her way to the top, where she buried her fingers in the spiky brown hair. With her other hand she tugged at the collar of his shirt and at that moment Marinette decided it was time to call their attention.

She looked away and coughed loudly.

The couple parted from eachother, both adjusting their glasses and shirts.

“You two really have no sense of decency.” Marinette declared among laughs.

Other people might get a little ashamed for getting called out like this, but not her friends. They had always been quite open with public demonstrations of affection, and growing up had not made it any better. It was just how they were, hopelessly in love with eachother and not afraid to show it.

“Sorry, I just missed my beautiful, super hot girlfriend.” Nino excused himself, still grinning at Alya.

“Well, welcome home!” she responded with a devilish smirk as she winked at him.

“Oh my god! Help me! I’m drowning in all this cheese!” Marinette uttered, as she pretended to be engulfed.

Nino crossed the room to give Marinette a hug before snapping his finger and widening his eyes as if the most brilliant idea ever had just come to his mind.

“You know what we should do? We should go get dinner, the three of us. It’s already 7PM and I’m really hungry from my trip, let’s go to that new pizza place two blocks down!”

“Oh! No, I had pizza two days ago! How about sushi?” Alya grumbled

“Ah, but this place has a giant selection of home made pizzas! They have every variety and an all you can eat menu where they keep bringing you different types until you’re tottaly full! You’ll love it.”

“Sure, but it’s pizza again… can’t we go there another day?”

Nino grabbed Alya’s hand, leading her away from Marinette, in the direction of their bedroom.

“I’ll think about it if you lend me a hand unpacking” he declared.

They were gonne for about three minutes before returning, smiling way too much for Marinette’s liking. Whatever just happened in that room, she did not want to know.

“I changed my mind, let’s go get pizza!” Alya said, trying to conceal her smile but failing.

“What even…” Marinette stoped mid sentence, deciding that she definitely didn’t want details “Ok, let’s just tidy up this living room and go”.

 

_____________

 

It was about 7:30 PM when the group arrived at the trendy pizzeria. The red letters above the door red “ _Mama Pizza!”_ and despite still being quite early, you could tell by looking through the windows that the restaurant was already quite full.

“Wow, it seems like it really is popular! Maybe, you should have booked a table Nino.” Marinette remarked and they entered the slightly crowded place.

“I… kinda did?” he replied, looking a little embarrassed.

“Promise you wont be mad Marinette…” he continued “ but I asked another friend of ours to join us for dinner…”

“Why woul I be mad?”

And then she saw him, standin up from his chair, waving at them from across the room.

From that distance, it took her all of three seconds to recognize him, and then all the air left her lungs at once. He was different, as they all were, he looked taller, his blonde hair was longer and half pushed back in a sort of bun. Something clicked in her had.

That was Adrien Agreste.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uff! This one took a long time, and I'm sorry. I hope you liked it :)
> 
> I really drowned in my Voltron feels with the release of VLD season 7 and I just couldn't concentrate in writing about Miraculous Ladybug when all my heart ached for were those space idiots (KICK for life). But now I think I got my mojo back!
> 
> This chapter I focused a lot on Alya and Marinette's relationship and how they've been dealing with the Ladybug retirement.   
> Next chapter we finally get the Adrienette reunion! ^^
> 
> I don't know when it will be out, I doubt it will take less than one week. Let's see, no promisses


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is finally! This was long overdue...
> 
> I'm sorry if there's any blatant spelling or grammar error, I doubled checked it but since this chapter turned out so big I might have let some typos slip.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> PS: In regards to canon, since a lot came out since last chapter, you consider everything went as it did in the series up until Style Queen (included). Queen Wasp and Malediktator didn't happen in the same way. Heroes Day (catalyst and mayura) didn't happen at all.
> 
> In short, it mostly comes down to this: no one knows who Queen Bee is, not even Marinette/Ladybug.

Just about 2 minutes before his friends had entered through that restaurant’s door, Adrien Agreste had been nervous about meeting them.

We certainly _wanted_ to meet them, that wasn’t the problem. Just shortly after he had decided to come back to France, he started to be inundated with a sense of nostalgia that he had pushed back for too long, a feeling of longing for his friends and his previous life. But what if the time that had gone by was just too much? Were they even still his friends?

What if he didn’t even know what to say to them? Sure, he had talked to Nino on the phone earlier, and they had set up this whole dinner meeting, but he felt like it had been ages since they had actually _talked_. And if he thought about it, it really had been.

He had left Paris all those years ago and never really done a good job keeping in touch with his friends. At first, almost all of them had sent him daily messages and emails, asking how he was, offering support.  
Of course, he was a total wreck at that time and promptly ignored all of them. Then the messages slowed down, unmotivated by the lack of response. By the time Adrien started writing back, the messages were no more than Chloé’s monthly emails, an occasional text from Nino or the yearly “Happy Birthday” wishes from those who still remembered. And he never made a decent effort to change that.

But there he was, waiting for a group of people who had once been his friends, only now he wasn’t sure he even knew them anymore. Yet he missed them, a lot, and seeing them enter through those doors only made him realize just how much.

  
“Look what the cat dragged in! If it isn’t the famous Monsieur Agreste, himself.” Nino declared as he walked toward his friend grinning and ready to hug him, as if they had just met last month for drinks, instead of years ago when they were still teenagers.

Immediately, a conforting sense of familiarity washed over Adrien.

“Wow, look at you, all manly and grown up Lahiffe.” he answered as he bumped fists with the guy who had been his best friend in another life.

“And yet you still look like a Disney princess, dude!”

Just behind Nino emerged his highschool sweetheart, their friend Alya, and from the looks of it, they were still together. She quickly jumped in front of her boyfriend and gently punched Adrien on the shoulder, jokingly scolding him for being away for so long without visiting.  

“Well, _auch_ , Alya. It’s good to see you too, I promise to atone for my absence” he replied with a playful wink.

“You better, Agreste! Now look, we brought someone else with us.” and she stepped aside to reveal someone tha stood behind her.

There, trailling after Alya, came a rather silent woman, with beautiful raven hair caught in a sidebraid, bright blue eyes and a warm smile. Marinette.  
He looked right at her, and for just a moment he thought he saw… _something_ flash through her eyes, but in a second, it was gone.

“Hi, Adrien. It’s been a while” she greeted him, waiving her hand as she smiled. She had kept some distance, as if unsure whether this blonde man was in fact her long lost friend.

“Marinette! Wow, it’s been so long!” smiling, he stepped forward, arms open, to give her a hug.

She didn’t seem to have been expecting that, which made her lose her balance as she steped backwards, startled. Fortunately, Adrien was able to catch her before she fell, grabbing her above her elbow, while reaching with his other hand to support her back, until she was standing straight again.  
As he looked at her face turning slightly red, he couldn’t contain the laughter forming in his chest.

“Ahahah, I guess some things don’t really change.” he added, winking at her.

“I…what?! Uhn, I…” she uttered, eyes wide, seemingly unable to figure out what he meant “Oh, yeah, I’m still very much a danger to myself, ahah…” she finally managed to blurt out through an embarrassed smile.

“Only now they let her have a driver’s license!” Alya teased

“Alyaaa!!” Marinette complained

“Just sayin’...”

“Yeah? Well, weren’t you the one trying to put a drill in my hands just a few hours ago? What is it then?”

“You did what?!” Nino chimed in “Baby, you know blood will be very hard to clean from our hardwood floors, right?”

“Wow, thanks guys, way to throw me under the bus, really, thank you”

“Well, I’m sure you’d be fine, Marinette” Adrien retorted with a smile on his lips.

“T-Thank you!”

He wasn’t lying. Although he remembered Marinette being a rather clumsy girl, he also recalled her being very skilled in a vast number of things, from designing and sewing to videogames or even fencing. He had always admired her for how easily she could master different skills without much formal training, never letting fear keep her from doing something bold. She was just so talented, and the best part was that she would never boast about it or act cocky. He didn’t think she even realized how remarkable she was.

“Can we order? I’m starving!” Nino finally declared, pulling a chair and sitting dow at the table his friend had been saving for them.

Adrien had been a little worried that his friends would pressure him with difficult questions that he had no good answers for. Why had he left so suddenly? Why had he been gone for so long? Why had he never paid them a visit in all those years? Why had he chosen this moment to come back to Paris?

Sure, sitting in the dark on his mannor’s stairwell the day before, crying his heart out as Chloé held his hand, had been a surprisingly liberating experience, even if he couldn’t tell her everything that haunted him, but that didn’t mean he was looking forward to getting emotional again. He was determined to keep a jolly voice and a smile on his face, he was determined to have some fun for a change.

 

Fortunatly this time, his friends didn’t go there in the slightest. It could even seem like they were actively trying to avoid touching that subject, as if they were afraid to scare him off, but he didn’t give it much thought though, he was just grateful he wouldn’t need to make escuses for himself and his behaviour in the past years.

As they studied their menus and ordered some appetizers, Adrien managed to sit back for a few seconds and take a good look at the group.

First of all, they looked happy to be there with him, which he was glad to realize. From time to time, each of them would raise their eyes from their menus or take a sip of their drinks and then smile back at Adrien if they caught him looking at them.

Also, now that he was examining them more carefully, he was surprised to notice that despite the group felling very familiar and having the same sort of aura they had had all those years ago, they certainly had changed quite a lot.

Nino was the one whose changes were more noticeable at first sight. He had grown a lot taller and didn’t appear skinny and long limbed as he had as a teen, looking rather strong instead. He had lost his trademark red cap and now wore his hair in a well styled undercut, although there was still a pair of headphones around his neck, which Adrien found amusing. On his right forearm, he realized his friend sported a sort of tattoo band that seemed to be music related. It fitted him, he thought.

Alya was as lively as ever, a certain glimpse of mischief in her eyes, behind her black rimmed glasses. She now wore her hair shorter, which gave her a more mature look. The biggest change in her case wasn’t so much her appearance but a little (or maybe huge) detail that Adrien detected: they had been there for almost half an hour and she had not yet checked her phone. Well, it’s not like there was still a Ladyblog for her to be constantly updating, was there?

While Marinette had appeared a little tense and nervous at first, she was now starting to loosen up, and the sound of her laughter filled the room with a joyful energy.

Adrien had always liked her ever since he met her, he appreciated how much she cared for those around her, how kind she was and how she always tried her best to help everyone.  
She was definitely a great friend, to him and everybody else.

Just like Nino had lost his hat, Marinette didn’t seem to sport her signature pigtails anymore. That shouldn’t be a surprise, he thought, afterall she was older now, and he didn’t know many grown women who wore pigtails. It was a a shame though, he liked them, he always thought that it made Marinette look really cute.

An unexpected thought crossed his mind: was he fond of the pigtails becase _she_ also used to wear them? Dammit! What was wrong with him?

“Yo, dude, are you daydreaming?” he heard Nino at last.

Lost in his thoughts, he had not realized his friend was talking to him.

“Oh sorry, I was disctracted" Adrien apologized, snapping out of it.

“Damn right you were! I need a tie breaker here, man, help me out. We should totally go for the all you can eat menu, right? Where they keep bringing you different pizzas?”

“But we have already been stuffing our faces with focaccia and bruschetta! You’re not gonna be able to eat enough for it to be worth it!” Alya chimed in before Adrien even had a chance to say anything.

“Uhmm, yes I will, babe, you _know_ I will…” Nino countered

“Well, those of us who don’t eat like a famished beast won’t, you know, normal people with a normal stomach. Let’s just order two large pizzas and share.”

“Wait…” Adrien said, trying to stop the argument “What did Marinette say about it? What do you think Marinette?”

She sat back in her chair, as if trying to get away from the table and theatrically shook her hands in front of her face.

“Oh, no, no, no, no, I’m officially and legally forever exempt of ever having to settle one of their arguments again.”

“Legally?” he asked, amused.

“Yap, I had a contract drafted and signed” she retorted smugly.

“That’s true.” Alya confirmed, as Nino nodded as well.

“Well then. In this case I guess I wil have to agree with…” he paused for a moment and looked at his friends, thinking about what he should say “I’ll have to agree with Alya”

“Yes! Thank you, Adrien, I always knew you were smart.”

“ _Dude?!_ Auch!” you could just see in Nino’s eyes how betrayed he felt that his once upon a time bestfriend had sided with his girlfriend instead “Don’t forget to clean that knife when you remove it from my back, man.”

“Sorry Nino, I just don’t think I would be able to eat that much” Adrien added apologetically.

“Oh, just suck it up babe!”

While Alya smirked, Nino was almost pouting.

“You know you’ll have to make it up to me, right?”

“Oh, will I? How so?”

As the both of them kept discussing exactly how much Alya owed Nino and how she should compensate him for the suffering she was causing by not letting him eat until he was about to burst, Marinette discretely leaned towards Adrien and uttered in a way that their distracted friends wouldn’t hear.

“You made the right choice, though. Nino recovers quickly but Alya holds a grudge. Also, we wouldn’t be able to eat that much of course.”

As she pulled away she giggled, and the sound transported Adrien to a different time. He felt the smile forming in his lips, discrete, but honest.

They all kept chatting about the most trivial things: Nino’s crazy encounter with a little kid that stuck gum on his hair on the subway, that new fantasy tv series that promised to be the next _Game of Thrones_ but was actually pretty lousy, the _actual_ _Game of Thrones_ book series, that was still waiting for the last book to be published, and how Alya believed that book would never see the light of day, even though Nino and Marinette maintained that it was bound to come out soon…

 

The waiter finally brought their pizzas and a delicious smell filled the table as they grabbed their first slices (and Nino once again complained that he could eat a lot more)

“So, what are you all up to this days?” Adrien finally inquired.

“Oh, you know man, disappointing my parents” Nino declared with a shrug and a side smile.

Alya punched him lightly on the shoulder and then held his hand “Don’t say that! You’re doing great.” He smiled lovingly at her.

“He’s been working on his music” she explained.

“Yeah, I studied music and now I’m putting my DJ skills to the test. It’s been going well I think, I have some good gigs, I was in Lyon when you came back. I also do some jobs as a sound tech for a bunch of shows and I’m working on some original demos. Composing and all that, it’s cool.” as he spoke, his passion and enthusiasm transpired “Nothing compared to this girl here though, she’s going places.” he added as he pointed to his girlfriend

“Damn, right I am! I have my goals set high. Right now, I’m a junior reported for LCI and next month I’m starting a new special online informational segment on their website. My ultimate goal is to become a big investigative journalist though.”

“Uau, seems like you two got it all pretty figured out, that must be nice” Adrien was truly happy to see that his friends were so in charge of their own lives. He wished he could say the same about himself.

The couple bursted out laughing, though.

“Figured out?” Alya replied, taking a deep breath “Oh Adrien, we can’t even figure out where our pairs of socks are disappearing into!”

The whole group laughed this time.

“How about you Marinette?” he asked afterwards.

A pink flush appeared in Marinette’s cheaks.

“Well I-I… hum, I’m working in a really nice design studio, I’m an assistant designer, I think it’s going well.”

“Of course it’s going well, girl!” Alya chimed in.

“Oh, so you’re still into fashion! That’s great, you were always really talented.”

“Ah, hum, t-thanks. You’re not anymore though” Marinette’s eyes widened and her pink flush turned bright red “Into fashion! I meant you’re not into fashion anymore! Not that you’re not talented, you are, of course you are, I-I’d never think you’re not, I mean, I think you are, I…” she rambled as she waved her hands frantically. It made Adrien chuckle.  
  
“Yeah, it’s ok, I got it, don’t worry. And you’re right, I’m not so much into fashion these days, I haven’t modelled since I left Paris. I actually got into Astrophysics and-“

“Wait, what?!” Nino interrupted “Astrophysics?! Jesus dude, that’s really… not sure if really nerdy or just plain awesome. I’m gonna go with awesome. So you’re some kind of space scientist now?”

Adrien smiled, as if a little embarrassed. He wouldn’t tell them that he had spent so much time studying because most days he didn’t really feel like being around people, that the more complex a subject was, the better it kept his worst thoughts at bay, that studying outer space somehow helped his mind move away from his problems down on earth, from his doubts and regrets, from his guilt…

Only when he got to university, up to his ears in books, lectures and assignments, had he been able to feel somewhat normal again, to have his mind clear enough, to connect with people. Not really _connect_ for real, but at least he was hanging out with other people sometimes. And he was finally able to sleep without nightmares. At least until a couple of months ago. He spun the silver ring in his right hand.

“Ahah, I guess I was always a little nerdy, don’t you think so?”

“Oh man, now that I think about it, you _were_ , you were such a nerd!” Nino seemed pretty astonished by his latest realization “Yeah, with all the piano, and fencing and Chinese, always top of our class, major overachiever, you were a total nerd! How did I not see this at the time?!”

“It’s because he was hot.”

They all stared at Alya, who had just spoken. Adrien felt his ears get warm and prayed to God he wasn’t blushing. Marinette looked dumbfounded. It was Nino who broke the silence.

“He was what now, babe?”

“What? I just mean he was _the_ Adrien Agreste, supermodel and all, he was a really cute boy, girls basically threw themselves at his feet, that overshadowed any traces of nerdiness he might have had. Don’t you agree, Marinette?”

Adrien looked at Marinette sitting next to him. By the look he had seen on her face just a few moments ago he half expected her to choke. And yet, she didn’t.

“No… not really.”

She looked down at her palms with a half smile before raising her eyes and speaking directly to him.

“I think you were all of it. Yes you, ah…, looked good, and girls liked you and everyone idolized you for your modelling career, as they should, you were seriously talented as a model. But you were also incredibly smart and hard-working, you were a really good student, a really good pianist and a really good fencer. And on top of it all you were a really good friend. I don’t think any of it overshadowed the rest, it was all just part of the amazing person you were, it was all you.”

 

When she stoped talking, it seemed like it was Adrien’s time to be at a loss for words.

“T-that’s… I- *ahum* thank you.” he felt an unexpected warmt rise to his cheeks.

Marinette looked away from him and added in a low but sure voice “It’s nothing to be thankful about, it’s just the truth.”

“Aw, that was so sweet it made me crave dessert.” Alya cut with a mischievous tone.

“Did you know these two just moved in together?” Marinette chimed in, quickly changing the subject. Though her voice didn’t denounce any hidden meaning behind her words, se looked at her friend dead in the eye, as if it was a warning. Adrien didn´t know what that was about, but he knew better than to ask.

“Really? Congratulations!”

“Yeah dude, we got a nice place nearby! You have to see it, we could go there for a cup of coffee after this.”

“Oh, it’s still a little messy for guests, don’t you think baby?”

“I guess? But it’s just Adrien and Marin-“

“No, it’s too messy. Maybe you could still give me a hand moving some boxes tonight? Since you’ve been out for a week and haven’t really… helped with the moving for a while.” she bit her lip and looked at him through her lashes.

“Oh…OH! Yeah, yeah, we should totally take care of those boxes!”

Adrien made an effort not to laugh. It was actually funny to see how easily Alya could sway his friend, but he didn’t seem to mind. Did Nino even realize it? He figured he probably did. They looked playful and in love and Adrien was genuinely happy for them.

Some people might be jealous or bitter of other people’s happiness when they themselves weren’t exactly the posterchild for a joyful life, but he had just never felt like that.

Maybe it had something to do with the fact that, deep down, he didn’t consider he deserved much joy anyway.

Alya’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

“But you should totally come to our house inauguration party next week, Adrien! It’s on Saturday, just give me your current number so I can text you the address and all the details.”

She reached for her purse and took out her cell phone but looked at it with a look of disappointment that seemed a bit exaggerated.

“Oh no! Seems I ran out of battery, stupid smartphones. It’s ok, just give it to Marinette, she’ll send me the contact info later!”

She reluctantly took out her cell phone and handed it to Adrien so he could type in his contact. It had a soft pink polka dot case that looked very cute, very Marinette. He typed his number, saved it as _Adrien Agreste_ and handed the phone back to her with a smile.

Alya yawned, maybe a little too loud.

“Sorry, I’m getting really sleppy, it’s been a tiring couple of days, trying to organize the apartment all by myself”

“All by yourself?!” Marinette said, as if she had taken offense, but obviously joking.

“Oh, you know what I mean. Anyway, whe should get going if we still want to… move those boxes.”

 

After some discussion and a lot of insistence on his part, the group allowed Adrien to pay for dinner. After he was done at the counter, he joined his friends outside.

“So how did you all get here? I’m not exactly on _limousine_ and private _chauffeur_ terms anymore. But I got a nice rental yesterday, it’s parked just a little down the street, I could give you a ride if you want.”

“Thanks, dude. We actually walked, our place is just 3 blocks down.”

“Yeah” Alya added “We can walk back. In fact we _want_ to walk back. We enjoy the cool nightime breeze, besides, roaming the Paris streets at night, hand in hand with your boyfriend, it’s really romantic and all that” she grabbed Nino’s hand and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. “But you could take Marinette to her place, though.”

“Of course.” He turned to Marinette with a smile.

“Oh! It’s okay Adrien, you don’t need too, I was gonna take the subway.”

“I don’t mind, really. I want too, if you let me.”

“O-ok, thank you.”

“It’s settled then! We’ll be going, goodbye you two.”

The couple said goodbye to their friends with a hug and a reminder to not forget their party next weekend, and then Marinetter and Adrien were left alone.

 

For just a moment there was an awkward silence. Then Adrien pointed downstreet smiling.

“Come on, the car is just there, it’s not far.”

They started walking down the sidewalk, and got in the shinny black BMW.

 

“So, do you still live at the same place?”

“Yes, above my parents’ bakery. I’m not really at the “ _pay your own rent_ ” wage level yet. “

“And I guess having Alya and Nino as roomates was not an option?” he joked

“Oh god no! Am I not enough of a third wheel as it is?” she chuckled “You don’t know what they’re like, Alya tries to come out all sassy, but they’re the cheesiest most obnoxiously couple there is. You’d think they would have toned it down after what… 10 years of being together? But nope!”

“And you’re single?”

Marinette eyes widened and she seemed to choke. He realized how personal he had gotten without meaning too. What an idiot, had being an antisocial nerd for the past few years made him forget how to properly talk to people?

“Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude, I was just going long with your third wheel talk, I-… I’m so sorry Marinette.”

“No, no, it’s okay. I- I am. Single. I am single now.” he coud see her looking away by the corner of his eye as he was driving. He sensed there was something else there, but he wouldn’t meddle.

Before they noticed, they were at Marinette’s door.

 

“Thank you for the ride, Adrien” she said smiling at him while reaching for the door handle.

“Wait…”

She stoped, her hand resting on the door, and turned to him with an inquisitive look.

“I just wanted to thank you, for earlier.” he looked at his hands, still on the wheel, before moving to face her.

“For what?”

“For what you said, about me back then? I don’t think I showed it, I tried not too but I was a little insecure all those years ago, being an homeschooled overprotected child has that kind of consequences. Deep down I had this weird fear that people wouldn’t like me… , that they liked _model Adrien_ , or _honor student Adrien_ , even _rich as hell Adrien_ …” he laughed and winked at her smirking “You know what I mean. But I didn’t think anyone would like the _whole Adrien_? I don’t even think I even felt confortable showing the _whole Adrien_ that much… Not to my friends at school, not to the teachers, not on my job… not even to my father…”.

Marinette seemed to jump on her seat at the mention of Gabriel Agreste. Adrien let out a small laugh.

 

“That’s the other thing I wanted to say! All of you seemed to be making a especially noticeable effort to avoid even the slightest mention of my father, or to admit he even existed.”

His friend looked a little embarrassed that he had picked up on that.

“Don’t get me wrong, I really appreciated not being interrogated about things I would rather not spend a lot of time talking about. You, Nino, Alya… you just welcomed me as if I had not been away for years and that was amazing, it meant a lot.”

She eased up and smiled at him.

“But you don’t have to walk on eggshells around me, ok? I know I shut myself out back then, but I’m fine now, it’s been a long time. It’s ok, to acknowledge he was there, that he was a part of my life when we were kids. You don’t need to avoid looking back on that awesome first birthday party Nino threw for me, for example, just because he somehow tried to stop it, things like that. It’s also ok to acknowledge that he’s not here anymore, that I’m not as rich as I used to be.”

As soon as he heard what he had said out loud he looked away from Marinette and rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed, before turning back to her.

“Sorry, this came out really bad, sitting here in a brand-new sports car, I sounded like Chloé.”

She giggled.

“Let´s agree I’m sounding like a spoiled brat only because my French is a little rusty, please.”

“Sure.” she agreed, amusement dancing in her eyes.

“Anyway, what I ment to say is, I’m ok. It’s been a long time, I’m fine, no need to be careful or particularly mind your tongue around me. You can tell that to Alya and Nino as well. There is no need to be so cautious around me, you won’t break me, it’s mostly water under the bridge by now.”

His face lighted up with a big, reassuring smile. Marinette apparently believed him, said goodbye, and from what he could tell, left the car with that sense of happiness than one would expect after a fun evening out with your friends. He waved at her one last time as she opened her front door and disappeared inside.

 

Adrien leaned back on his car seat and took a deep breath. He thought to himself that he might have only had a small acting experience in his child star days, but the act he had just put up was probably deserving of an Oscar.

He was not fine. He was not fine at all.

 

_ _ _ _ _ _ _

 

As she entered her room Marinette felt an unexpected chill.

She looked up and immediately found the reason, she had left her balcony trap door open. Dammit! She droped her bag and kicked off her shoes before climbing up to close it.

Instead she found herself up on the balcony, admiring the Paris skyline.

 

Her friends had been scheming little devils, planning this whole dinner with Adrien behind her back, and then Alya had taken it up a notch, as usual, by not so subtly making him give her his number and then suggesting he took her home. Well, screw her of course, but if she was being honest, she kind of enjoyed it.

Not for the reasons her evil friend had in mind though, that sneaky fox. Marinette had only been single for less than a month, she was in no way looking for another guy.

Besides, no matter what Alya thought, Marinette didn’t like Adrien anymore, not like that anyway. Sure, he was cute, he was hot in fact, and yes, he always crossed her mind from time to time, but she had figured out that was mostly because of her guilt over what had happened to him, no matter how much time had passed, it didn’t seem to go away.

Except she realized that, right now, she did feel a little different.

And that’s why she was so happy that she got to see him, to hang out with him today. Adrien felt different, but in some way the same. He was still their friend, he seemed happy, he was fine. Somehow, seeing him like this, had lifted a weight from her shoulders that she wasn’t even completely aware that was there until now.

_“I’m fine now, it’s been a long time.”_

His words played in her head like a song. They didn’t erase her guilt, she suspected nothing ever would, but oh God, had it felt good to hear them, to see him smile.

She considered calling Alya, having a little chat about her scheming ways and how she needed to stop, but the she remembered that she and Nino had seemed to want to… move some boxes, so she decided against it. She would speak with Alya tomorrow.

She let herself stay there on the balcony for a little while longer, untroubled by the chilly night breeze, before she got back inside and slipped into her pajamas.

 

She did not even realize what she was doing, until she found herself sitting crosslegged on her bed with a miraculous box in her hands.

She had not touched that box for a whole year now and not opened it for even longer. Last time she had held it, she had wonderend if she could find it in herself to open it, but she felt afraid, unprepared, and above all, unworthy.

As she looked at the box this time she could feel her heart racing and a knot on her throat. But her hands didn’t tremble, and her breathing remained more or less the same.

Maybe it was because tonight had felt like it has been pulled right from her past, from a time when everything was alright, when she protected Paris as Ladybug, Adrien was here, he was not an orphan, and they were all together at school.

And for the first time in forever she felt like maybe she could open the box.

So she did.

There was a flash of light, and a small creature appeared in front of her, glowing red in the dark room. The creature blinked, revealing her enormous blue eyes that seemed to twinkle.

“Tikki…” Marinette uttered, her voice low and apologetic.

“Marinette!” the little kwami gasped before flying right into her chest.

She felt the little warm shape press against her, and realized she had tears running down her cheeks. She cradled Tikki with her hands and held her closely to her chest.

“Oh Tikki, I missed you so much. I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was a hard one to get out...
> 
> I'm so sorry for anyone who was waiting for it, I know there's not much people reading, but I really care about those of you who do.  
> I had some personal problems that made me stop writing for a while and then I had a bit of trouble getting my writing mojo back. 
> 
> Also, although this chapter had been planned since the beginning, I had not yet played it in my head like a movie, like I have some other chapters (the next one, it's gonna be great!), so I had a lot of stuff to figure out and decide while I was writting :/
> 
> Since I mostly like to "show, not tell" and there was a lot of exposition and characterization that I wanted to get out in this chapter, it ended up way way longer than the previous ones. Chapters will probably tend to be considerably longer than the first ones anyway, as the story goes on. Who knows? Like a friend said, I'm a gardener, not an architect.
> 
> I hope you liked it, I'm really excited for the next chapter, it's one of those that has been playing in my head since I first started drafting this story <3
> 
> I know better by now than to make promises about when it will be out, but at least I'm pretty sure it won't take as long as this one ;P


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